Who is the greatest NBA player, or is there even one?

Who is the greatest NBA player of all time? It is an endless debate among sports fans across the world, could it be Michael Jordan, Lebron James, Kobe Bryant? Could it older greats such as Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, or what about Magic and Bird? Could it be someone unexpected or simply there isn't an all time great?

"Greatest Of All Time", does it have to include the amount of championship titles a player has won or just based on their pure basketball skills? One would have to consider the competition and the level of difficulty they had to face in terms of facing other teams and players with superior abilities and performance. One other factor would have to be how great they were in multiple areas such as defense and offense combined, also the statistics with how many points per game, assists, rebounds the list goes on.

When it comes to titles there's always Bill Russell's name that comes up, based on his 11 titles with the Boston Celtics, while he is a definite legend, basketball fans tend to point out the lesser competition he faced during his playing days, at the time there were only 8 teams, making it easier, which is a reasonable factor. Michael Jordan as we all know won 6 titles, but so did his long time teammate Scottie Pippen, does that mean we can put Pippen in the same realm of MJ, no of course not, it still doesn't take away of what Scottie accomplished throughout his career. Same can be said for Robert Horry, who even though won 7 titles is no where near the legendary status as some of his teammates such as Shaq, Kobe, and Tim Duncan.

When it comes to NBA players with great skills, one can't forget Allen Iverson, who is considered one of the most exciting NBA players of all time and had so much influence. AI had a disadvantage due to his height, but his skills were absolutely unbelievable. While he may be considered a legend, he's almost never put in the same category in the very top, but many wonder what if he did win titles, what if he had the same help as other greats during his era, would AI be considered to be the greatest? He most likely would be in that conservation.

Exposure is one very important factor to the debate, while one can argue about today vs the 90's and the amount of exposure modern players receive compared to the 90's thanks to the internet and minute by minute updates with social media platforms playing a factor, what about the 90s compared to the 70s? By the 90s there was already a good amount of exposure thanks to the media such as ESPN and Sports Illustrated and were already expanding across the world, one example is the amount of attention the 1992 Dream Team received in Spain, they were treated as Rock Stars. In the 1970's there wasn't as much exposure as the 90s, but what if there was the same amount of exposure in the 70s as there a was in the 90s? Would Kareem Abdul Jabbar who owns numerous records, be in the Greatest Of All Time conservation more often? What about the 1960's? While Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West are considered to be legends, they are usually slighted in favor of others.

Then there are legends with titles who are considered to be all time greats but usually not considered to be at the very top. Shaq, Magic, Bird, legends who helped grow the sport not just by their play but also their charisma and be very likable by the general public. While MJ, Lebron, Kobe are at the very top of the debate, they were players who at times have been more closed and less opened to the general public. Shaq has stated he could've been the greatest if he wanted to, could this be true? Most likely, he has all the credentials and stats (except FT of course).

Generation bias among fans? Could generation bias play a factor in who people view as superior? Those who grew up in the 90's will most likely say Michael Jordan was the greatest, those who grew up in the 2000s say its Kobe, AI, or Duncan, in the 2010's obviously Lebron James. As time goes on new players will come in to the sport and become legendary and there will be new debates, at the moment there is the debate of Lebron vs MJ, 8 years ago everyone was talking Lebron vs Kobe, in a few years MJ perhaps won't be considered the greatest anymore. There will be a new debate, it could be Anthony Davis vs Lebron, it appears as if some people and the media are wanting to start a Kevein Durant vs Lebron debate. Overall there seems to be no direct answer on who the greatest is, and there will never be. There is clear answer on who the greatest of all time is.

Lastly... the "current" Greatest Of All Time debate Lebron vs Jordan

Michael Jordan 6 titles (obviously), 5 MVP's, 1984-85 Rookie of the Year, the list goes on...

Lebron James 3 titles, 4 MVPs, 2003-04 Rookie of the Year, and the list goes on...

Lets talk about some negative and positive facts about the two:

Lebron James has obviously played in a weak Eastern Conference throughout his career and especially this decade, aside from the 2012 Boston Celtics and the 2018 Celtics there hasn't been much competition. In 2011 they faced a young Bulls team lead by Derrick Rose who gave the Heat a good fight, and seemed like the Bulls and Rose were going to be the one's to challenge Lebron and Miami for years to come, of course we know what happened with Rose, never was the same after the injury. The Indiana Pacers for a couple years seemed like they were going to be "that team", then Paul George gets injured which set back the Pacers. The Atlanta Hawks won 60 games in the 14-15 season and seemed strong, then got swept by the Cavs of course, the Hawks since traded away the core and are currently "rebuilding". Toronto, well we all know the story basically, great regular season team, but cold when it matters.
At the same time can't take away what Lebron has done though, 8 straight Eastern Conference titles, one can argue if the Warriors didn't have KD Lebron would have at least one more, but that's another story for another day. Many argue he hasn't had a good group of guys around him throughout his career, and while he's had Wade, Bosh, Love, Kyrie, it hasn't all been paradise like it should have been. Lebron James caliber of a player doesn't come around very often, you can't take away his greatness.

Michael Jordan now, while MJ played in an era where many say the game was more physical and there was more competition, MJ did have a great group of teammates around him. MJ had Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Tim Hardaway, decent bench players such as Tony Kukoc and Steve Kerr, and oviously one of the greatest coaches of all time in Phil Jackson. Before winning his first title he was viewed as just a "really good" player. By the time the Bulls won their first title vs the Lakers, Magic was already 32 and the Lakers weren't the "Showtime" Lakers anymore. By the time they beat the "Bad Boy" Pistons, they were already aging and on a decline.
At the end of the day, its Michael Jordan, he's the biggest thing to have ever happened to the NBA, and will always be viewed as the greatest of one of the greatest, and no one will ever take away his accomplishments, he changed the the sport, and he's an icon.

Now who was the greatest?